Dragon's Flower
by Mythalie169-TreeSpirit169
Summary: AU,Yuri,HalibelXOC. Tia Halibel strives to be free of the plauge of humankind, but finds a nagging inablility to do so unless she has a soul. She's lost it, she'd say, and when asked why she follows the human, she'd say again, "She has it."
1. Prologue

_I watched her for a long time, you know. A very long time. She has something of mine, and I had to get it back, or, at the very least, get her to share it with me. This was not like the ones before, the ones I _thought_ took it and held it hostage, torturing it, stabbing it, raping it, raping it, raping it, raping it. No, I know she has it. _

_I watched her today, all of today. I stood behind that glass and watched her. She didn't move at all. Staring at the ceiling I knew she was reading their minds… disguising the action with a planned apathy that could be pulled off only by her, disguising it with an illness that these humans say she has. But no, no I am not so naïve; I know what's going on, I _know_ she's planning on killing them all. I know that if commanded, I will have to aid her, that when she stops pretending, I will help her. I am the dragon, and she has my soul._

She sat up suddenly - the stiff, white, flexible cardboard pillow giving a startled ruffle at the motion- and looked up from beneath her drooping eyelids at the plastic glass; unseeing.

"Halibel-san?"

There was no sign of recognition or acknowledgment towards the man behind her. "Halibel-san?" Nothing. The large, overweight, balding man in the orderly's uniform glanced backwards towards the desk, hoping to catch the eyes of the two men leaning against the tops of the registration counters armed with more tranquilizer needles and angry plastic batons than he. They nodded to him, he, back, and turned around to face the tall blond, arms crossed and locking eyes with the catatonic patient in the ward before them. "Halibel-san, we have to get you back to your room now. Come along, Halibel-san." Chubby fingers touched a dull tan sweater and slowly wrapped themselves around as much of her elbow as possible. Tension rose as she shot death at him; never moving her head- hungry, hungry, hungry, consuming, consuming, until the man was sweating, tension rising higher, higher, higher, eager to please, to kill, to hurt, -"Release me."

He did as instructed, rapidly so, and took a few steps back as the two men stepped forward, cautiously, and with their hands on their hips like some kind of out of place cowboy; instead of leather vests and boots, crisp clean hospital shirts- bleached to absolute purity- and instead of spurred boots, sneakers- to run after the patients that attempt to escape, loaded guns and whips, the non-metal tonfa and needles, juiced up with enough sedatives to drive someone unconcious. "Halibel-san, come on now, you know we don't want to do this. Go back to your room."

"Oh, hello, Oomaeda-san. How may I help you?"

The retreating man now reached the speckled-tiled front desk, behind it, the inquiring hyper sandy-haired blond. "How long has she been here?" "All day. I called for someone before, but they insisted on leaving her alone if she wasn't bothering anyone. It- hey!" The two men now closed in, thin metal daggers raised and prepared to strike – cobras, "Oomaeda-san! It's fine! She can stay!" She pushed herself up from her chair, preparing to intervene, "Aramaki-san! Kotsubaki! Leave her!" They looked back dubiously, her long time friend and rival and his assistant still prepared. "There's still half an hour left until visiting hours are over, Halibel-san has agreed to leave then. Isn't that right, Halibel-san?" An unfazed nod, no sign of intimidation.

Only then did the nurse see that the patient in ward #108 was sitting up - still looking at her blond visitor with unseeing eyes - and decide that she should go and lay her down. Her progress was halted, however, by a hand, hidden from view under the too-long sleeves of the tan sweater all the inpatients were given to wear. Her posture had not changed very much; face still looking at the girl in the bed, right arm still supporting an invisible left one, legs still holding her erect body up…left hand now retreating hastily…

"Do…do you want to come in with me, Halibel-san?" Another apathetic nod. "Ok. Come."

She walks to the bed, pulling back the covers slightly and gently pressing the girl's shoulders back. "Fudo-san, we're going to lay you back down okay?" Tucking in the covers she straightens them to perfection, brushing off any and all imaginary dust. "Ok, Fudo-san. Good night. Sweet dreams. See you tomorrow, hopefully…"

_Fudo Kei. Kei. Fudo. You will wake. And I will wait for you. I, Halibel, and you will share with me my dragon form. For I am the dragon, and you have my soul._


	2. Dragon's Fury

The short coppery blond greeted her again. It had been the third time that week that Halibel appeared; her padded feet silent when compared to other patients –in and out alike- shuffling around.

"Ohayo, Halibel-san."

She had long since expected no acknowledgment to her neutral comments, and for that, was surprised to hear from the silent one shielded behind a dark green turtleneck. "Has there been any change?" "O-Oh! No, Halibel-san. Fudo-san has moved once or twice since my shift started, but aside from that… not that I know of."

She walked off, the unfolded turtleneck slipping off the bridge of her nose slightly before being brought back up. Taking up the stance she had taken for her past visits she crossed her arms, locking her legs and preparing to wait out her twelve visiting hours watching the motor-active child.

"A-Ano…Halibel-san…" Inquiring silence…

"Halibel-san can go in and sit if she wants…I doubt they'll tell you otherwise." Kiyone stepped to the side of the door, folding her hands in front of her and bowing before extending the arm closest to the room. "Douzo, douzo…"

Hesitantly she looked sideways, glancing back to the unmoving girl and the nurse, which one, which one? _It's a trap. They want to capture me,_ _torture, torture, pain, tests, tests, needles, tests, experiments, needles, scalpels, jars, brethren, shouts, chalk, summons, water, steam, ink, ink, ink, fire. __**Fire.**_

"Halibel-san, you don't have to if you don't want to. I only suggested it because it seemed you would be more comfortable that way…"

Unwillingly her body moved, one foot in front of the other, slowly, slowly until she was at the penny-haired woman in white gloves, shuffle, shuffle, and then she was past her – her natural instincts to be cautious in a new territory taking over, for as many times as she had been here, however many years she had spent in the building, and however many people she followed by the false theories that maybe, just maybe they held her soul… she had never been in the room itself.

It was a small, little place. A place to take up a place for a person that had been there a while and was incurable. Flowery wallpaper, _orchids_, Hailbel thought offhandedly in her observations, and a TV, alive and set to a child's cartoon, thick metal blinds, _someone could hide behind that_. Quickly she strode over to the window, her back to the wall, _you never know who would attack you_, and checked behind them, (a car twenty-six stories below and a few large measurements over was smoking, a long snake extending behind it with hateful beeps and high pitched screaming in place of the dangerous hiss) noting nothing she turned her back on that and checked the room again. The cabinets, above the dressers placed in every admitted's room, inside the only two drawers in that dresser, (moving aside the thin stack of hospital gowns, socks, and neatly folded boxers so she could get to the bottom), behind the bed, about to check under it when instead of bringing herself unsafely to her knees, Kiyone pulled up the sheets and checked under it for her. "Nothing there, Halibel-san." She said with a bright smile.

Rising and bowing before her departure Kiyone's smile waned a bit, recalling quite suddenly her Sensei's notice to her a little over a week ago about the girl. '_I noticed Halibel-san in your area recently, has she taken after one of your patients?' 'I suppose so. She stopped by Fudo-san for a few minutes yesterday, and then she moved right along the hallway.' 'Aah. Has there been any improvement?' 'With Fudo-san? No. Although I expect she'll be up and about in a few days, a week or two at most.' 'I see, I see. Well I trust your judgment, Kiyone-chan. Halibel-san is very nice, by the way. If she happens to take an interest in your department, I'd like for you to keep an eye out for her.' 'What, if I may ask...' 'Does she suffer from?' 'Hai.' 'She's a diagnosed schizophrenic, also diagnosed with slight delirious mania and minor Copropraxia and Echopraxia. She shouldn't be too much trouble, though. Make your intentions known before you approach her, she doesn't take lightly to surprise. Force is not an option with her, so tell Sentaro-kun to take it easy if he they come across each other would you?' 'Yes, sir! You can count on me!'_

"Let me know if there's anything you'd like, Halibel-san. I'll be just outside at my desk."

**

_I know it. This one does. I can feel it inside her. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting for me to carve it out of her and fly home. Waiting. Wake up, Kei. Wake up. _

As if on cue, her eyes opened. Snowy gray powdering the green of her irises, her dark, dark pupils focused on the ceiling. _Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me and wake. Wake, wake, wake, wake, wake, wake. Stop pretending._

They refocused on her, Halibel, (assumption now at a 95% positive chance that she was her carrier) her sole attention holder. It was different, Halibel concluded, being looked at and _seen_ rather than to simply be looked out involuntarily. "Wake…" she whispered, startling herself. Peering furiously into Kei's eyes, Halibel tried to relay the message. _ Wake, wake, wake. Stop pretending. _ Kei's lips were moving, forming soundless words to be conveyed to no one like a blind man's cane; one man's dependence is another man's source of ridicule.

Tentatively the sunflower blond placed her hands on the armrests of the chair, pulling herself up ever so slightly, tilting her head _to _look at the youngest Kotestu busy at work in her station (noting only through paranoid interest that the two orderlies from yesterday were standing guard ( it seemed) at the entrance to the room. Back to her soul keeper her gaze returns, those small chapped lips still moving, faster, faster, almost desperate to get rid of the words whose repetition she has no control over. She leans down; dry hands gripping the side rail as she presses the side of her face closer, "Wake, wake, wake, wake, wake, wake, wake…" she hears. Over and over and over those words are whispered furiously, fighting, _fighting_ to win first place as the fastest over her now shaking hand.

_Yes I know you hear me. Sit up, SIT UP! _ No response. Kei Fudo's hand ceased its vibrations, and in one swift movement, it was replaced at her side, her face now looking at the ceiling, all acknowledgement at there being another person with her lost… lost in her unresponsive catatonic state.

_Lies._ Halibel thought. Disappointment and regret, and fury, and loss flooding her over-sensitive mind she stands. "Get up! Get up! Get up!" she screams, grabbing the chair and lifting it above her head, registering in her mind somewhere that the orderlies were running into the room. She flung the metal seat at them, and grabbed the lamp, ready to defend herself from the evil people if she needed to; the angry, _venomous_ 'Get up, get up, get up, get up!'s, her battle cry.

She tore off the lampshade, never mind that it was screwed in, fear and rage the catalyst to her strength, and smashed it against the wall - glass flying around her like the cutting waters of the Asian monsoons- and held it before her – a lightning sword. Electricity sparked and hissed and sizzled, the umbilical cord stretched tautly between baby and mother- "No! Kotsubaki!" Kiyone ran in just as Kotsubaki stepped forward, taking advantage of the situation, and knocked the lamp from her hands. Surprised, Halibel stepped back, back curving slightly to accommodate the aggressive defense mode she took up. Yoshiro Yoshi ran forward, unplugging the lamp on his way, and took position behind the blond.

"Kotsubaki!" Kiyone shouted angrily, "Remember what Ukitake-sensei…"

Her voice, all the noise, faded out of existence, she could hear nothing. Back and forth her head flipped, fearing the loss of one of her senses; she'd be defenseless, unable to hear her enemies approaching - _They must be taken of quickly. I have to get rid of them before they get rid of me._

She lurched forward, knocking Yoshiro down – the back of his head colliding with the glass-coated floor, the shiny shards digging into his skin- and grabbed the nearby cord, wrapping it tightly around his neck, tightening it, tighter, tighter, tighter until she was sure she could leave him alone to die. Jumping off of him she disappeared; she was a frightened animal… cloaking itself from all existence to strike.

Crouching, she kicked out Kotsubaki's legs from under him and he fell flat. Quickly twisting his arm behind him, she removed her green turtleneck, (a dark tan thermal one under) effectively tying his wrists together at his shoulder blades with an extension of the cloth around his neck to incapacitate his movement.

Setting both knees in the middle of his spine, she folded her hands under his chin and lifted, pulling back with herself as she leaned into a direction that would surely break his neck if held for just a few more seconds… _Die die die die die die._

A gasp, and then running, and then a buzz and an uncomfortable replacement of her hands from beneath Kotsubaki's chin to behind her own back; a gentle nudge to the back of her knees brings her down, and a cold prick to her neck rendering her remaining senses useless.


	3. Cero Sincretico and A Dragon's Luck

"Thank you, Kiyone-kun, for calling me. I'm terribly sorry." "No, no. No worries. It's these idiots' fault." She motions concernedly towards the orderlies now being aided, "Will she be okay?" "Yes, I very much think she will. Thank you for your hospitality."

Kiyone gave a polite bow before helping to support a bruised-necked Yoshi and leaving to inform Ukitake about the damage in ward # 108, for the chair, instead of hitting Kotsubaki and Yoshi, flew into the desk provided with a surprising force, crippling it for the rest of its nonexistent life.

"Halibel." He whispered from behind her, hands interlaced behind her neck in a kneeling Nelson hold, "_Halibel_…"he whispered in his heavy Asian accent. "Calm down Halibel. No one is going to hurt you. I won't let you go yet, Halibel. Now, I'm going to stand up, you're going to stand up with me, and I'm going to take you back to your room. These nice men are going to follow us. That's fine, yes?" Weak struggling his response.

"Aizen-san… there's no need to do talk to her like that… the sedatives in the injection we gave her-" "Are not enough to completely knock my patient unconscious, Iba-kun. I'm sure you knew that." "I…Hai, Aizen-san."

"Good," he began on a happy note, eyes lost in the wrinkles of his smile, "Now, Iba-kun, Madarame-kun, please; follow us." Slowly he stood, pulling up the forcefully passive blond and lightly kicking her slippered feet into motion as he walked.

***

"Oi! Halibel! What happened, eh? Heard you went nuts and tried to kill a kid? Why'd you do that?" A tall black haired guy with a comfortably fitting eye patch inquired rudely as Halibel, (held by Aizen) Ikkaku, and Iba slowly made their way to the end of the hall. "Now, now, Nnoitora-san. She did nothing of the sort. Go back to your room and play with Nel-kun." "With that runt?! No fucking way! I should kill her!" "Oi, oi!" Shouted a lanky blond boy in his late-teens and his short full-headed tiki masked sidekick companion in practiced union, "No one talks about Nel-sama in such a manner! Back to your room, you pirate heathen!" they said again, the tall one covered with an insect mask adding his thin gloved finger into the mix with a few jabs in Nnoitora's direction. "_What_?" he growled. "Ah, ahaha, ah, nandemonai, Nnoitora-san. Aha!" raising his hand as if shielding his masked eyes from the fluorescent lights he shouts in acknowledgement, lowering it only to glare at his short friend with mock contempt. "Dondochakka." "Hai?" "CLOSE YOUR MOUTH! Those bugs are getting out! I don't want to have to slash them all to pieces!" "AH! No! Come back, yansu!" he shouted, and proceeded to try and recapture the tiny gnat with his long-time friend behind him providing encouraging comments.

"Hey!"

They stopped, Pesche with an arm outstretched over Dondochakka towards the oblivious creature, one leg perfectly horizontal to himself, and Dondochakka, short hands outstretched before him like an overgrown child seeking attention from its mother. Slowly they turned to the tattooed orderly stomping, annoyed.

"Stop chasin' the damn gnat you freakin' idiot. It didn't come from your stomach, 'cause you _don't _have a vast reservoir of bugs in ya, and I _swear_, if you take out your 'sword' one more time, I'm gonna get Thunderwitch out here to permanently _break_ it."

In the next instant it seemed, Pesche stood up straight, white hands on Dondochakka's shoulders, and shouted obnoxiously to the commenter as he led them to their room, "Hai, hai, Abarai-kun. Did I ever tell you how beautiful your tattoos are? Right Dondochakka? Beautiful, yes?" He peered over the short shoulder, raising a hidden eyebrow, and gasping when he saw that beneath the black holes of the mask his friend was teary eyed. "Dondochakka?! Who did this to you!? I'll beat 'em up, I will!" "NOO!" he sobbed loudly, "No!" "What the he- Dondochakka! Get the - get off!"

Renji fell back onto his bum under the weight of his heavy charge with a gasp and much wheezing. "You're so mean, Abarai-kun, yansu! So mean! So mean! So mean! So mean! So-" Pesche gasped again, this time taking up his previous 'blinded by the fluorescent lights' position kneeling in a comical marriage proposal stance and looking into the distance. "Dondochakka! Quick, quick! They're coming! RUN!" Pulling his fat friend off the redhead,he dashed to their room, hands stiffened into triangles for speed. "What are we running from, yansu?" "I don't know." He supplied with a blank face. "Ah. I see." "Why you little punk!" Renji shouted angrily as he took off after them. "Ahh, Dondochakka, quick, Cero Sincretico!" "Hai!"

Pesche jumped onto Dondochakka's shoulders, bending down on one knee, that same marriage stance, and crossed his arms, searching inside his sleeves for something as his friend in the spotted hoodie gathered snot in the back of his throat by the most masculine (and noisy, mind you) way possible while opening the mouth to his mask. "Aha!" Pesche shouted. From his long sleeves there traveled a moving object- a mole in a child's cartoon- a jelly jar…filled almost to the very top with a suspicious dark yellow liquid…

"Now!" He yelled with no lack of drama. Dondochakka spit; the humongous wad of mucus catching the unsuspecting Renji – too late realizing he had walked into a trap- under his left eye, and Pesche released the contents of his jelly jar, the poor redhead too close to have run and been spared. "WHAT THE – IS THIS PISS?!" "No." Pesche smiled (again hidden, but betrayed in his smug voice), "It is Ultima's drool. I collected it only yest- Oh, oh dear… RUN DONDOCHAKKAHH!" They zoomed off to the end of the hallway, where Aizen and Halibel had safely been abandoned to lead themselves to the woman's room, and where their own small square of solitude reside; (by shameless request of course, always doing the best to please the patients) the metal door across from Halibel and next to Nel. "Hurry, Pesche!" Dondochakka whimpered - his naturally deep voice rising a few octaves in fear, "He's gainin' on us, yansu!"

Kneeling in the hallway, Pesche reached down the front of his pants, one concealed eye closed and a bitten tongue protruding from his invisible mouth in concentration as he looked for their room key. "Aha!" "AHH!" "AHH!" "AHHH!" they echoed, finally stopping with a synchronized "AHHH!".

Tumbling in, Pesche, ever the flexible one, somehow having been twisted this way and that around Dondochakka, shut the door with the precision of a mere centimeters worth of movement by his clothed foot.

"Renji!" shouted an obviously disapproving woman. "You're supposed to be _helping _the patients, not running around like you're gonna kill them!" "Rukia!" He shouted stopping and turning to glare at the small woman exiting from one of the nearby rooms, "I'm covered in _piss_ and _snot_. I have every right to be angry with them!" "Yeah, well," she paused, catching the towel the visiting nurse Isane threw at her, and in turn, threw it at Renji, "it's your fault for taking this job." He sighed. "'Sorry, Aizen-san." He said, turning to apologize to the man who saw the whole thing, who had the power to stop it, but, for his own amusement, indulged in the part of the man who sat watching. "No problem, Abarai-kun. It was rather entertaining. I must say though, you should refrain from doing such things in the future." "Hai."

Aizen nodded, opening the wooden door, (by stoic request of course, always doing the best to please the patients) and gently guiding the unresponsive blond to her own bed he spoke, "Okay, Halibel, I'm going to let you go now, no attacking me okay, or I'll have to restrain you. After I let you go, I'm going to have you lay down on the bed and tell me what happened. I'll leave then, okay? Unless you want me to stay." He paused, waiting for nothing but giving one of his most explosive patients time to comprehend his words should the drug administered have had some retarding capabilities.

Releasing one hand he pulled its hostage to the woman's own side, doing the same with the other and grabbing a hold on her upper arms to turn her. "Please lay down, Halibel." She blinked. Her eyes more than half lidded, her gaze kidnapped by his darkened white slippers, her body rather numb. "I'm going to push your shoulders down to help you." He warned, proceeding to do so. "Now," he began, pulling up the light padded chair and seating himself in it. "Can you tell me what happened?" A nod. "Will you?" A shake of her head. "Why?"

Silence.

"Halibel?"

Silence.

She closed her eyes, not feigning sleep, not sleeping, not pretending…

_Pretending._ Her mind spat. _She was pretending. Was she? Yes…she was. I'm not wrong. She has it. She has it and she won't share. I'll take it by force then if she won't share. She won't share. Well, she has to stop pretending sooner or later. And then I'll have my chance. I'll carve it out of her if I have to. She'll either share it or suffer. Either way I win. Either way I win._

"Halibel-kun?" Her eyes closed less. Closed less than a hundred. Closed at eighty, yes, closed at eighty exactly.

"I'll have to inform you that I don't think they'll let you see her again. Not after your episode. And most certainly not while she's motor-active like that." _What? What, what, what?! No! I have to see her! I have to wait! I have to!_

"Would you like it if I sent word to you letting you know that she's awake?"

_Pretending you mean._

Lazily she looked at him, eyebrow arched in undisciplined doubt, and hesitantly… she nodded.

"Very well, Halibel. I do believe I will hear nothing of what happened this evening from you, so I'll see you tomorrow, Halibel. I'll have you stay here though, until Kiyone-san gives me the OK to allow you back."

To the door he walked, hand pushing down on the handle, walking out, looking back with his last departing remark before disappearing entirely; "I'll ask Nel-kun to wake you up in the morning, so you can join us for a welcome back breakfast. Urahara-san, Yoruichi-kun, Tousen-san, and Sajin-san will be arriving tomorrow from their workshop in Australia. Talk to them about it. Remember, Halibel; we're here to help you." And with the click of the lock there rang finality- an ominous, venomous, _hideous _finality that voiced their ill conviction.

_Just ask it of me, Mater Pretender, and it will be done. If it is your will…if it's the only way to get you to share, then I'll kill them all._

***

"Kiyoshi-san?" _You __**have **__the damn key, Nel-chan. Use it._

"Ah. Whoops. Forgot I had a key…" the woman, late teens, but with an unmistakable speech impairment, shoved the key clumsily into its counterpart, roughly turning it and stumbling over her own feet inside. _What a klutz_.

"Oh…you're up, Kiyoshi-san."

Making herself comfortable she pulled up the same striped fluffy chair Aizen used the day before. "So. Aizen-kun wanted me to come wake you up." Halibel nodded, the rest of her remaining motionless. "Wants me to bring you down for breakfast, he does." Another nod. "The therapists are back." Another.

Thoughful silence descended. Nel looked at the vase of assorted plastic flowers on the bedside table beneath the plane lamp and then back to Halibel, back to the vase, back to Halibel, to the vase, to Halibel's folded hands, to the vase, to the black TV, to the vase…

"May I?" she asked in a whisper. Moving her head sideways to see what the girl was looking at she nodded, returning to her previous position facing the pimply ceiling. Nel jumped up, grabbing the medium-sized ceramic container and then returning to the seat, legs crossed with the object between them she pulled out all the flowers, replacing each one by one in the order of her need. "Thank you."

She could not speak, a hoarse "Hai." Was all she could manage, but she _needed_ to speak. She had to let someone else know that the girl in ward # 108, that the girl in the ward in the hospital connected to the housing facility she resided in, that _that_girl had her soul and was pretending to be unresponsive because she doesn't want to give it back. Nel was the only person she could tell. Nel was the only one who she could trust. Nel knew what was going on, Nel went through this, Nel found her soul, but it died before she could absorb it…and she…well…she was here. Stuck in this world, in this plane, in this place. She is the result of a dragon's lost soul. A human. "Nel." She croaked.

With one hand, Nel held her artificial bouquet in place while with the other she poured Halibel a cup (yes a cup, for what would an institution look like it they openly distributed _glass_ cups to ill people) of water from the pitcher refilled every night, handing it over once it was at a generous amount.

She took it, looking into the substance oddly. "That's meant to be drunk you know…" the uniquely hair-colored Nel remarked as she stood, toad shaped vase held in the crook of her left elbow, weak lamp light shining off the thick pink burn mark running across her nose and cheekbones. Walking to the door she pressed her ear against it, waiting for a few seconds before locking it and returning to her seat and working on the arrangement. "Finish your water and then tell me what happened, yeah?" The blond sighed, nodding in the process, and lowered her turtleneck, for she had not removed it, nor moved so much in her sleep as to severely alter it. Nel, long since having seen the markings, took no noticeable expression to them; the tattoos, the scars of her human transformation.

From an area near the top of her ears, hidden beneath her hair, there began a dark, dark line; darker than the usual green of purposeful body decoration, but not shaped properly enough for it to have been a natural birthmark. From there, the line crossed raggedly over her nose to the other ear and below that there was black, the thick black line continuing to grow in thickness, larger, larger until it came to the middle of her upper lip. Printed here, it has to have been, were sharp dagerous teeth, beneath them, their completing bottom set, achieving the overall effect of a beast with two mouths, a caged beast, a caged beast unfed by freedom and tortured by immortality. Holding true to its appearance, the thick black line returned, coloring everything from the tip of her strong chin to the back of her jaws and under. Father yet the line reached, extending its damaging charcoal touch, the black line birthed triplets, another thick black line to cover the top of her neck, another beneath that covering the middle, and the last, beneath that, each giving off the impression of layered scales, covering the bottom. Here it did not end, though in her frustration at being made to consume something, Halibel pulled down her collar only enough to see that.

In fact, two weak, helpless, little, impaired children of those triplets fall, two thin, thin, lines flowing over the top of her chest on the tips of the dragon's three horns for there was indeed a dragon there; it began above the hollow of her neck (the weak little lines living very short lives), the scaled thunder god's wizened, _saddened_ face beginning the stereotypical green of deliberate body alteration. She peers straight out, to anyone looking, with that wizened, saddened, hateful, longing expression, grabbing onto the breasts of her carrier with clawed talons, preparing for the return of her soul, preparing for the day when she'll be able to flee her captor's body. Its hind legs support it, again, waiting for the perfect moment when its soul returned that it might just _jump_ out of her. Its tail, spiked and dangerous, wrapped around Halibel's back protectively, _I will not leave her_, it seemed to snarl, though the rest of it screamed 'flee, flee, flee!', ending the whole piece by coming back to the majority of its body with the remaining length of its tail.

"So." Nel began, still fixing the plastic lilies and sunflowers, and roses, and daises, _Honestly_, she thought, _who the hell would pick such a horrible combination?_"Ready to talk?" Halibel nodded, scooting over on her bed to allow Nel to sit with her; it wouldn't be a very long tale, not one for much talk, Halibel liked things to-the-point.

" I think…" Nel handed her a sunflower. "I think…I might have found it." "Oh?" she asked without looking up, "and how have you come across that conclusion?"

"I don't know. But I'm _sure_ I've found it. The only problem is the person."

"Why's that?"

Halibel turned the flower around and around in her left hand, her right lying limply next to it. "Her reports say she 'suffers'," here she makes a point to raise both hands to form quotation marks, "random but severe attacks of both catatonic excitement and motor-activity, Echopraxia and level one and two defense mechanisms,"

Nel whistled. "Quite a few degrees of demented there…my Kiyoshi-senpai doing a little dark work, hm?"

"but I think she's only faking it." She continued uninterrupted. "And why is it you think this?"

"This last…visit…Kiyone let me sit in the room with her,"

"Did you check the room?"

"Yes."

"That's good." "Ah. Please continue." Nel said apologetically with a smirk, she really couldn't help it, could she?

"Well yes, she let me sit in. And I know that I didn't say anything out loud, I might have whispered, but that was only once. But I kept repeating, 'wake, wake, wake, wake,' in my own head, and then she opened her eyes, looked directly at me, at me, not beyond, and started repeating it over and over and over, and then…" she paused to make sure she had Nel's attention; she raised her eyebrows and nodded her acknowledgement, " she just stopped. Started pretending again. Made me mad. She was pretending. She didn't want to give me my soul back. Or even share. I think that I should just stab it out of her. It's getting frustrating. A dragon's approaching release is something to fear; it's only natural to fear it- yet these people here treat me like I'm sick. Like I'm sick! Filthy humans…"

"So what happened then? Why aren't they letting you go visit anymore? You didn't actually try and take it by force did you?"

"No."

"Any idea when she'll wake up?"

"You mean stop pretending."

"Yes, I meant do you have any idea when she'll stop pretending?"

"No, but Aizen said he'd send word when she did."

"Ah."

There was a pause, during which, Halibel mumbled a few choice words, involuntary of course, yes, always involuntary, always involuntary due to her mild Copropraxia. Nel waited for the completing answers. Receiving none she carried on, "Well I don't know. She'll come to you eventually, Kiyoshi-san. That's what mine did. He came to me, but he wouldn't share either. So I carved it out of him. That didn't work, though. Opposite in fact. Both his and mine, our souls that is, left us. My work killed him, and I was left here. The Grand One has my soul now. But he isn't going to send it down. Without it I can't die, by body will though…and I'll disappear to the place where the dragon's that don't have a soul go. But it isn't too late for you. If you think you've found it inside this 'Fudo Kei' girl… be patient. It will all work out for the best." She looked up, arrangement now perfectly symmetrical flower arrangement, and stood. "Get dressed. I'm sure Yoruichi-sensei will want you to say hi."

"Hn."

"Oh, Dondochakka wanted me to ask…Have you seen Bawabawa? We can't find him anywhere, and we're starting to worry…" Halibel chose not to answer, indeed, chose not to answer rather than ignore her. "Okay…" Nel conceded in her most concerned voice, "I'll see you downstairs…" Halibel gave a nod, unseen by its intentional recipient, and went about in search of clean cloths.

***

"Nel-chan! Nel-chan!" She turned around, the ram-skull hat she wore falling forward into her face, to look at the person calling her name out direly. "Hichigo…chan…" he stopped in front of her, hands on his knees and panting harshly. "Gah! That was one hell of a run." Pant, pant, pant. "What…W-where did you start running? Why, really?" "Well," gasp, "Ah, ok. Ichigo left his lunch," deep breath, "and so me, being his ever reliable twin," giant exhale, "brought it for him." "Oh. Okay. So why are you here?" "Bakahh." He said in an exhale standing up to tower over the sister-like woman and flick her forehead, "Ichigo was with Aizen-san. And since he said he needed Ichigo for something, he told me to pass a message to Halibel-san." "Again… why are you _here_ with _me_? _Kiyoshi-san's_room is that way." She said, pointing to the opposite direction. "Yeah, well…She's a tough woman to get to, Nel-chan. Maybe when you turn as crazy as she is, you'll understand, but until then, let's just say I'm scared of her. And soo," he continued when he saw her mouth open and her eyebrow arch, "I need you, dear Nel-chan, to pass the message on for me." "Hai…" Silence.

"Well, what's the message!?"

"Oh, oh right, sorry, haha…"

Silence.

"So are you going to tell me or should I let you go on and tell Kiyoshi-san yourself?"

"Sorry, sorry, forgot what it was for a minute there. He said to tell Halibel-san that Fudo-san… woke up. Whatever that means."

_Ohoho! Kiyoshi-san, here is your chance. Please do well._

"Thank you Hichigo-chan. I'll tell her that right now."

"No problem."

She walked passed him, resisting the urge to sprint to her friend's room. _Wait 'til you hear…_

"Now where in the hell is my brother…" Hichigo said, walking around the living room, where a few of the younger children were playing on various game systems, passed the kitchen, where a familiar blond was being roughly, but affectionately, annoyed by a silver-haired boy tugging on his hair as he washed dishes, passed the playroom, where the rather old patients with severe loss of maturity played, passed the halls, passed the bathrooms and shower rooms, up the stairs, down the stairs, back up, the housing department, the cooking department, the dining room, the living room again, "Dammit Ichigo! Where the hell are you!?"

"Kurosaki-kun is helping Aizen-kun and Shuuhei-kun load the van for a field trip with the younger kids after breakfast. It's best you meet them in the dining room." Provided a passing Nanao.

_Tch. Dammit, I was just freakin' IN there! _

"Thanks, Ise-sensei."

"Hai."

***

"Have you seen Bawabawa? Have you seen Bawabawa?"

"Kiyoshi-san, you have no idea how annoying that gets, do you…"

"I have no conscious control over it."

"Yeah, yeah. Well I came by to tell you that I ran into Hichigo-chan just now. He had a message from Aizen-san."

Halibel stopped and turned, the blue sweater she was about to put on now suffocating in her grip. Frozen, she was frozen, unable to move under the weight of anticipation.

"She's stopped pretending."


	4. Violent Betrayal

"Did'ja hear me, Halibel-san?"

Nel stood before the frozen blond, bowing to peer under the shock of yellow that had fallen forward.

"…Halibel-san?" Nel bent further, right knee cracking under the move, and observed cautiously the changes in windows shaded pine. "Did'ja hear me, Halibel-san? Did'ja hear me Halibel-san?" the taller whispered.

"Ah…" the green-head sighed, "Guess you did then…"

Slowly reaching out to the blue material in the hands pressed against the thin coffee-colored turtleneck thermal she raised her voice slightly, preparing to warn Halibel of her next actions, "Halibel-san, I'm going to help you put on your shirt, okay? We have to get you down to the," (_thuh_, with the exerted force needed to pull the object out of cold hands), "dining room."

_She's stopped pretending. But they aren't going to let me go near her, no, wait, Aizen said that they would revoke my visiting sessions only while she was motor-active, if… if she's not anymore…_

_She'll be at the breakfast, if she's stopped pretending, she'll be at breakfast, and I can get to her then, but… but not while __**they're**__ there. I have to get her away from them, and then I'll ask her for it, and then,_ she slipped the constricting material around her head, no acknowledgement given in a way that was only Halibel,_ if she doesn't want to outright __**share**__, and I know she won't, I'll compromise with her. If she still doesn't want to, I'll just __**take**__ it from her, yes; yes. I should take it. That way, she won't have a chance to double-cross me, _patted down to smooth out the wrinkles, Nel thankfully spared from the awkwardness of having to find pants for her musing friend, _but what about what Nel-chan said? She tried to take it from her soul carrier, and it back fired on her. I know…I'll just take it bit-by-bit, every absorption equally spaced out so she won't die. What if she tries to kill me? What if she gives me back to those people…_ she grabbed her hand and tugged, the plain, pale green dress flying on air as the wind rushed into the false safety of the building through the passing, open windows, _the ones who mistook me for some other kind of animal, and tried to operate, to see what made me __**tick**_**.**_Liked that, didn't they? Liked how I stabbed them, didn't they? Liked how I thrashed, _"Down the stairs we go, Halibel-san.", _and broke the glass, and tripped them and broke their frail, human, bones, scalped them with the very containers of the objects they tried to inject into me, albeit broken, but sharp and graspable all the same. Liked it, didn't they? What about this girl? After I take it? What will happen to her? Nel, Nel-chan said… she said hers died because she tried to forcibly take it…Mine will live, though. Nel-chan must hate being human…she… she has no second chance…she…she…__**No.**_

Outside the teen entertainment center Nel stopped Halibel, not yet having released her hand, to snap pink-nailed fingers before Halibel. "Hey!" she whispered cautiously, "Hey! Halibel-san! Come on, out of this. Out. You can't go in there unobservant!

" What if _they're_ in there? You have to alert, they turn _everything_ into a -- "

Immediantly she was alert, a hand's palm flat against Nel's neck - the skeletal head of her ever-present cap pressed firmly beneath the hallucinating blonde's chin, the arms of the pea-puke dress wearer twisted tensly behind her back, groaning, whimpering, _pleading_ not to be broken. Looking about quickly she threw her spine against the wall, defensive, aggressive, protective, _cautious_ - Nel's back against her, she had no choice but to follow.

"Halibel!"

_Get away, get away! I'll fucking cut you! Get away! Don't come near me or I'll kill her!_ Nel struggled, "Kiyosh-"gasp, the strong fingers pressing against her throat warningly, no, _threatening_ to violently rip out her windpipe, "Halibel – Halibel! Let me go! They aren't here! They aren't-"

Lowly, with a venom absorbed upon hearing and experienced and spreading throughout all the human senses to drawing out all the unpleasantries of the mind, Halibel hissed into Nel's covered ear, "_You're trying to trick me…_" "Halibel, no! It's me—guh" fingers pressed deeper into her neck, nails beginning their slicing objective. "_You're trying to steal my soul from me._" "No…no Halibel-san…It's—gnn" deeper, "It's me, Nel-chan!" "_You want them to kill me, you've agreed with them, haven't you?_" "Nel-chan…Nel-chan…didn't…" slowly her voice loses its franticness, its urgentness, "Nel-chan hasn't…" the grip on her throat now so tightly held that no small particle of air was granted access. "Nel-chan…" "_Yes, __**Nel-chan**__, you agreed with them, __**bargained**__ with them, after I gave you all the information, didn't you, me in exchange for my soul, so that you could go to the Other World, well guess what, __**Nel-chan**__.," _"Nel-chan…" eyes began closing, lids both positive on one blink, opposites on the next, " _I've figured it out… and you're just too damn late." _ "Izuru!"

Gin Ichimaru ran forward from his position at the end of the hall where he _conveniently_ appeared, timely deciding to exit his shared room at that exact moment for breakfast, ("It pays to be late." He had once quoted.) and pulled Halibel's hands from the oxygen deprived Nel, twisting one wrist and sending the rest of her into kneeling submission. Appearing the very next instant was Izuru, thin, agile Izuru, rubbing the flow of materials back into Nel's neck with as much concentration as his furrowed brow supported. The moment she was released her eyes flew open, letting him continue, watching her Halibel-san being subdued, wanting to tell Gin not to hurt her, not to provoke her, for she would, undoubtably and with all the fear of a caged wolverine, attack.

"_You…"_ she growled, "_You're working with her. You're planning on giving me away to help __**her**__ into the Other World._" "No I ain't. S'all in your head." "_Lies! She's trying to steal my soul! Why can't you see that! I can't leave without it!!_" "All in your head, Halibel-san. Nel-chan ain't trying to steal no one's soul." "You're helping her!" with a ferocious yank of her own hand ( and of which Gin was none-the-quickest to let go) she was freed.

"Pesche! Dondochakka!"

"Hai?!" Caught by the call of Izuru, they guiltily rounded the corner, heads bowed despite the connection of skin-on-skin fighting in the room, and walked to their spotter. "Pesche, go find Stark-san, please, Dondochakka-kun, Iba-kun, hurry please." "Why does he get the respective suffix?!" Pesche whined. "Go!" "Ah! Hai, hai! Let's go, Dondochakka!" in a whisper he added, "I bet I'll beat you back." "YOUR ON!" his companion yelled, no regard for the purpose of low speaking. The blond impatient with the frantic looking green-head turned back to the main attraction, holding Nel back from jumping in (as well as protecting her should his accomplice fail), and waiting for the two people that were to be called should one of the 'more explosive' inpatients pop.

Having lost the use of her right arm by severe motion reduction thanks to the boney fingers around her wrist, Halibel struggled under the equally trained arts of Gin's education for he, Gin Ichimaru, and his roommate, Kira Izuru, as well as Halibel Halibel and up to two others, had, for much of their young lives (to Halibel's dismay, having been struck with a sudden plague of amnesia, the doctors concluded) been enrolled in martial arts – strictly for stress reduction post- diagnosis'.

His pale hand had been thrown back, knocked out of the salted ring by the heavier opponent, and Halibel proceeded. Bringing down her forearm it fell hard, diagonally across his chest. His breath was stolen and she grabbed his neck. Gin, never having been one to lose, clenched his hand and threw it into her stomach. Anticipating it Halibel tightened her muscles and once the air left her, she held it, neither taking any in nor exhaling the nothing left, and continued her attack.

That would have been the case, had Iba not arrived noisily, distracting her, giving Gin time enough to take her into that familiar kneeling Nelson hold so the man with her special tranquilizer could inject her.

_No…no…_ she whimpered, _ I'm not going back there. I'm not going to sleep. They're just trying to get rid of me, they're trying to get me away from Kei. No. No I'm not going to sleep. Nel-chan…you've betrayed me, these people… they're all trying to kill me…_

***

"Is she okay, yansu?"

"Yes…The shot I gave her, although enough to knock _you_ out, is not enough for her, so stand back, 'cause she could jump up at any minute."

"Where's Stark-san?"

"He said he'll be right there in a minute."

"Where was he?"

"In the bathroom…Aren't you proud of me, Kira-kun? I found him for you so quickly!"

"Yes, I've very proud of you Pesche."

"Why don't I get a title?!"

"Go back to your room, Pesche-_chan_, before I stab you with this needle." Iba supplied.

"So mean!" He huffed, "Fine. Dondochakka!" "Hai!?" "Come on." "Hai!" With that they strode off, steps coming up the stairs opposite of the living quarters. "Gin-kun?" "Hai…?" "Thank you for helping with Halibel-san." "Hai…Stark-han"

He lowered himself to her eyelevel, large hand atop her ruffled gold feathers, and tilted her head. "Have you informed Aizen-san?" Gin's canidae smile appeared and, still holding his fellow explosive inpatient, he replied "Iie, Aizen-han is at breakf'st right now, didn' think it nice ta' interrupt him."

"But you'd come bug me…" he mumbled, "Very well. Help her up, Gin. Iba-kun, follow him please. And prepare another dose if you would, it might be helpful." "Hai."

"Maa… no kicking, neh, Halibel-kun?" grunting under her light twisting he rose camel-like, "Up we go…"  
Stark turned to the frightened people (kids, in his opinion) and bestowed to their memory a lazy bow. "Thank you, Izuru-kun, for following procedure." "Hai…" "Have you called for a nurse yet?" "Iie…but," he glanced at the large digital clock above the game room door, "Isane-san…she…h-her shift starts about now, s-so she'll be passing through any minute…" "Ah, thank you, Izuru-kun. I'll get Halibel-san situated and then come right back." The blond male nodded, pulling closer the worried, previously oxygen-deprived Nel as the head of patient security lead the way back to the room with a wooden door.

***

Heavy eyes followed them, a set of worried green and a pair of thoughtful violet. In a dark corner he sat, hidden from view by the thickness of the black leather couch. Lethargically he crawled to the couple on the floor, tugging at the bottom of an olive-colored dress, "Aah?" he asked, finger pulling at the right corner of his mouth, the other, blackened toward the tip from a too-slow movement away from the union of door and frame, stretched down the hall. "Aah…Halibel-san is in a little bit of trouble…" "Puah...puah…" "Hai, hai, Margera-san…"

***

"Halibel-san, Gin's going to let you go now okay? No fighting or I'll have to call Iba-kun into the room and find someone to fetch me a jacket… and we'll have to leash you. Don't want that, do you?"

" Okay, Gin. Release her please."

A moment's hesitation and silence… and then…

She flew at his throat, perched upon his chest like all the air-stealing cats of the olden days, and _squeezed_. Gin did nothing but smile and cough once, smiling, smiling, smiling, smiling, _he's stalling for her. He's stalling so she can get away. So __**she**__ can get to Kei first and get her to turn against me._ "Gin, you fool…"the mustached god of merriment sighed, standing from his position on the floor to intervene. "Halibel, let him go," he whispered into her ear. She shook her head furiously, "**No**." His clothed hands rested at her shoulders, sliding lower over her biceps and forearms to gently grip her wrists, "Why not?" "He's, he's in the way. She, Nel…Nel-chan lied. Everything I told her…she's using it against me…she wants it…she…no…he's stalling for her. He must **die**."

The finality in her tone was amusing, Stark thought, the level her paranoid schizophrenia had long since approached and marked was screaming at her, refusing treatment, refusing to dissipate. Her hands tightened, the muscle beneath the would-be model's hands hardening; in reflexive response he released one of her hands, reaching behind him to pull out a pair of plastic handcuffs from the orderlies' pouch pressing against his back, and brought the wrist still held captive into its corresponding loop. She jumped off of Gin, whimpering twice at her arm's reluctance to part from Stark, "Gin," cough, cough, smile, smile, smile, "Gin, you idiot. Call Iba in." Nod.

***

"Nel-chan! Kira-kun! Magera-kun! Wh-What happened?!"

"Ah…Halibel-san…She.."

"Puah, puah, truh-ble…"

"She had another episode…"

"It wasn't her fault!" Nel pleaded, _she can't get hurt! Why…why would she think that I… that I want Kei?_

"Okay, okay, Nel-chan. Are you okay?"

"Hai, hai…Stark-san's in there with Halibel-san…"

"Have either of you notified Aizen-san?" Two shaken heads. "He's…at breakfast right now…with the therapists…" Izuru provided. "Ah. Well, regardless he'll have to be notified. Get Nel-chan to the couches, Kira-kun, please. Magera-kun, move…" she ended with a chuckle, patting the blond mass of hair rubbing against her calve.

Through the doors she walked, two rooms over, past the kitchen, and the drink room, pushing the final shield aside and entering the warm dining area. Quietly walking around the first table (for there was more than one table, the first being the table reserved for the younger inpatients and on occasion, Yoruichi-sensei, the second for anyone else and the people of an elder age) she bowed and smiled and waved to all that acknowledged her with the bright happiness of morning, passing the end of the second now, approaching Aizen, _what will he do? Kiyone-chan told me of her episode in the hospital…he won't give her a treatment __**too**__ drastic…would he?_

She bent slightly, bowing to the other members of the table surrounding Aizen as well as leaning in to whisper importantly the vague details of the occurrence. "Just now?" he asked quietly. "Hai." "And she's in her room with Stark-kun?" "As relayed to me by Kira-kun." "Thank you, Isane-kun, please return to Izuru-kun and Nel-chan. I'll inform Tousen-san that Magera-kun is waiting for him and I'll see to Halibel-kun in a few moments." "Hai." She straightened her back, nodding in confirmation to Unohana Retsu's questioning countenance when their eyes met. The gentle doctor's eyes closed, nodding back, and opened to see her subordinate exiting.

***

"Again, that dose won't knock her out, but it should calm her a bit." "Arigatou, Iba-kun." "Hai. I'll be waiting outside if you need anything more."

Stark held Halibel now, having gotten a better footing than her before Iba grabbed the advantage by its horns and swung it in his direction, plunging the needle into the girl's arm as her other hand was tightened in the plastic nooses. A palm was now pressed against her stomach, pushing her back into him so she wouldn't have room to kick, and the other holding her chin up, preventing her from head-butting him should she awaken from her deceiving stupor. Gin, having been told to find a nurse and ask her to bring back one of the hospital's straightjackets, was gone from the room.

"Now, Halibel-san. Tell me why you attacked Nel-chan." "I told you already," she huffed out, the violent confrontation having temporarily stolen her normal breathing, "She wants it." "Wants what?" "Why should I tell you?" violent jolt, "What if you decide…you want it then? I won't be able to…to get it back… I …ngh won't be able to _leave_." "I won't want it, Halibel-san. I'm happy here. Why would I want to leave?" "I don't believe you." "No…" he sighed, "No I didn't think you would.

"Well. You can either tell me, or Aizen-san will keep trying new things on you, electrotherapy maybe, or a new type of medication…"

"Don't you _dare_ try and threaten me, human." She spat acidly, teeth bared, the turtleneck having been pulled down in the scrimmage to reveal her transformation marks to all.

"I'm not, Halibel-san. I'm only telling you. Warning you, maybe. So please, tell me."

She waited. It wouldn't matter; it wouldn't matter, would it? If he got in her way, if her soul's carrier ordered it, she would kill them all. It wouldn't matter. "M'soul."

"What was that?"

"My," she spoke through clenched teeth, "soul."

Patient, contemplating silence…

"How would Nel-chan get your soul? Isn't it with you?"

"No."

"Where is it then?"

Silence. Silence. Silence. _I can't tell him, I don't want to, he'll steal it! He'll steal her! I won't be free!!_

"Halibel-san?"

"Fudo."

"'Fudo.'?"

"Kei Fudo."

"It's in her?

"Un."

"Your soul…Is in Kei Fudo?"

"Yes, dammit!"

"Stark-san…It's nice to see that you've gotten everything under control. Halibel…again, Halibel? And this time Nel-chan? I thought she was your friend…?" "Aizen-san, I'd like a private word with you, after the jacket comes. I've sent Gin to find a nurse." "Hai—" "No!" Halibel struggled wildly, her fear burning off the meager amount of tranquilizer she was injected with. She pushed her lower body back, Stark pulling her with him, having to release his hold on her neck to do so, and Halibel, no longer bound in that area, threw her head back, grazing the side of Stark's head and hitting her own against the wall they were thrown against. Her eyes closed slowly, the only signaling motion of pain, and fluttered open. "No…Stark, don't tell…" her consciousness was slipping…the attack on her skull doing more damage than was shown, and she struggled desperately to relay to him that she could trust no one anymore, the only bit not retained within herself, in him, and that he had to keep what she said a secret. Anyone else would want to keep her in this world, would want to kill her freedom…would keep Kei away from her.

_That_, she decided, _couldn't happen._

"_Only a little, love. I have to._"

With the last of her observatory senses, she felt him press a soft kiss to her cheek, those last words amplified by the proximity to her ear, yet in tone, betrayed to be a confidence's whisper.

_Only a little._

_Fine._


	5. Pocky is god

"Yes…She's…told Yoruichi of her misplaced soul condition… and she thinks it would be best to expose her as much as possible to the people she thinks has it."

"But you don't agree…do you...?"

Aizen shook his head sadly, "I do not. If anything, it would provoke her violent behavior and impair her further…as well as her interest at the time. Tousen has her files in his office. There was a report that I found, a few years before she was admitted… where she tried to drown one of her classmates. Her response to it: 'He tried to run away.'

"Another report says she drank a cup of gasoline, the guardian at the time, now imprisoned for life because of it, told her it was to restore her 'abilities', and narrowly avoided eating a lit match. Her brother, whom she also nearly killed, conveniently came down the stairs and stopped her before she could."

"Wouldn't there have been quite a bit of damage to her insides?"

"You'd think so… but no. Passed through her I suppose, 'iron stomach' they said…"

"And by her 'ablilities' …ah yes…her dragon confusion…"

"Hai."

"Huh…"

"…?"

"Well, Sosuke…" lazily he stood, scratching the back of his head with a yawn, "I think you should follow Yoruichi-kun's advice. Expose Halibel as much as possible to this…Kei Fudo girl. Supervised of course. Let Halibel realize on her own that Fudo-san doesn't have her soul…or whatever."

"This is your final choice?"

"Hai."

Long fingers, nails trimmed and cleaned professionally, raked through messy brown hair, thick, black rimmed glasses moving slightly with the motion, "Fine, Stark-kun. Fine. We'll try it."

"Arigatou! Now!" He clapped his hands together and turned on his heel, "I'm off to find Kyouraku and finish our game!"

"…Stark-kun… you know drinking is banned from—"

"Hai, hai. We most certainly were **not** drinking on the premises."

"Good…I would rather not be short one therapist…"

"Orderly."

"Yes, yes."

"Hai."

***

_Restriction. Why can't I move? Death. I can't die yet. Kei? Where is she?_

"Looks like she's startin' to come 'round…" she could faintly hear. Her back was stiff, hurting, painful from her three hours plus strapped into a wood chair. "Halibel-kun?" Trying to answer she nearly gagged, not having realized that the thickness in her mouth was a tongue guard, held in place by a cannibals mask. She looked up wearily, appreciating nothing about being held in place by multiple buckles and zippers. "Kyouraku… Let her out of that already. Aizen isn't here…and she won't attack us. Will you, Halibel-kun?" _Not if you don't let me out of this damn thing __**right**__ now. _"Better hurry up, I don't think she likes being restricted." "Hai, hai. No attacking, okay, Halibel-kun?" Curtly she nodded, biting down hard on the mouth guard to stop from jumping up and suffocating the man.

"We have some good news for you, Halibel-kun." Heated panting pursued the sentence, the man untying her legs from the wooden support of the chair was in control, something, she thought rather fiercely, she did not at all adore. "There, I'm going to ask you to turn around so I can undo the jacket. So please, stand and turn." She did as asked undividedly, focusing on every sound or movement, ready to spring into action at the first sign of danger. "Sosuke," Stark continued, playing with a shogi piece from their interrupted game, "has decided to show a bit of his rumored generosity."

"Would you like to undo the mask yourself, Halibel-kun?" With another nod, she turned, keeping the men in sight, pulling her mask off and the mouthpiece out. Walking back to his seat across from his fellow bearded-man, he pulls his pink, flowered, open kimono around him, _winter's getting' pretty close…_, he mused.

"He's agreed to set you up with supervised visiting hours with Fudo-kun." Quickly her head turned, the printed teeth on her lips seeming ready to growl, ready to come alive and rip apart everyone at the lie. For the first time since she woke, Stark looked at her, twirling the game piece around in his roughened fingers, "Show Aizen that you can handle being around her. " "Dickface!" she spat out, the targetless insult floating around the atmosphere of tension filled peace forgiven. "Show Aizen that me and Yoruichi were right in agreein' to let you see her, yes? And I'm sure he'll lighten up the security."

"Where is she now?" the blond asked, pulling up her turtleneck. "Ah, well you were out a while, it's about six right now, I would think she's in her room. Or in the game room. I haven't noticed her interacting with very many people, so I wouldn't expect her to be there."

"When…When…will **he** let me see her…?"

"Don't know," began Kyouraku, popping a pocky stick into his mouth as Halibel seated herself on the ground a few feet away from the collapsible table they played on, "I wouldn't expect him to let you until next week Wednesday probably…with your recent outburst on Nel-chan and all…" Bringing his legs up and folding them one over another, he offered his friend a stick, waiting until after he took two to offer the patient to his left some. She shook her head, tensing and relaxing several times in her attempts to control her copropraxia. _Next week…five days…five days…_

"So, Halibel-kun. What set off the deal with Nel-chan?"

She was silent for a moment, thinking of how to speak what she had to without further arousing curiosity; she couldn't, there was no other way to say it that would not confuse the meaning.

"She wants it." Poison green eyes zoomed up, catching those of the man with shorter brown hair, zooming back down after his confirmation that he only told Aizen. _Or did he. Kyouraku could be feigning ignorance…_

"Wants what?"

Shake of her head...

"Halibel-kun?"

Shake. Shake. Shake.

"Okay, then. What set off the incident in Kei-kun's room?"

Shake.

"Halibel-kun, you have to tell me _something_. Anything. Please?"

_No…_ She could feel it building up, clawing its way out of her throat involuntarily, part of the disease she caught when she was sent to Earth only boosting it, sending the phrase she said to Nel in confidence when she was fourteen upward in a paradoxical freefall; "I want a cat."

Stark laughed gently, moving a piece away from him on the board, "Well, she told you _something_, Kyouraku." "Hai…that she did.

"Did you always want a cat?"

_It's Kyouraku, it's Kyouraku, it's Kyouraku and Stark, they won't hurt me, they won't hurt me, Kyouraku, Stark._ Motionlessness.

"Yo! Yo! _Boys_." Halibel went rigid: bursting loudly through the door carrying a large round serving plate with a pot of rice, miso fish and pumpkin, along with various other vegetable dishes, was Yoruichi. Loud-mouthed with purple hair and a tight-fitting orange jacket, she was the very thing they, at the institution, strived to reduce—her bold manners and trendy fashion tending to lengthen the stay of offended patients.

"Sorry, sorry, Halibel-chan. Didn't mean to scare ya'. Isane-chan was switching shifts when I ran into her bringing you up your dinner. I told her I'd come up here and do it for her." Grinning happily, she took the blue zabuton offered after setting the dishes on the table cleared by the men. "So what were we doing before I came?"

"Talking," said Kyouraku as he helped Yoruichi pass out bowls and chopsticks, "Halibel-kun was telling us that she wanted a cat."

"Really, now? You know Halibel-chan," tying up her hair, she put a bowl on Halibel's side of the table, taking no note of the fact that she made no move to join them, "Rangiku's kitty had babies a few days ago. I could convince her to let you have one?"

Limes caught lemons, and for a few seconds, Yoruichi thought she saw joy in them, joy that was brutally stabbed and sliced and choked and hung by all the doubt there was within the pretty sunshine head of Halibel.

"Maa, Yoruichi-kun, you know there are no pets allowed in the building, 'cept for Tousen-kun's dog, but even then he's kept hidden for most of the day in his office."

"Hai, hai…I know that. But I could keep it with me in my apartment. And if these people ever let her visit outside here, she could come and see it!

"Whad'you say, Halibel-chan? I could try and sneak it in here sometime?" here she bent slightly over the table, the back of one hand covering the side of her mouth in a motion meant to convey poorly concealed secrecy. Halibel's eyes flashed up again, holding Yoruichi's polluted moons for a while longer before letting them float above her gaze as she looked down. She shrugged.

"Awesome! I'll tell Sosuke! And maybe, if you prove you can handle it, he'll let it stay in here. But only if you promise to keep it in the room. Now…Itadakimasu!"

"Itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu…"

"…"

"Halibel-chan? Eat, come on. You trust us all here, yes? If it was poisoned, well…Kyouraku would already be dead!" she added pointedly, tilting her head in the direction of the man already eating. He nodded, taking a mouthful of miso to prove his point. "There you go, see? Not dead yet. Now eat, and we'll do something together later. Maybe go sneak off with Pesche and Dondochakka to the garden, yeah? Or sneak a peek at this new girl I've heard so much about." She finished with a wink and a healthy shove of rice into her consuming cave.

She simply looked. The unbelievable woman before her was talking (and eating), talking about something that sounded entertaining, talking to make her feel better…talking freely. In many ways she envied Yoruichi. The woman was powerful, so much so, that she could do many things against the rules and not be faced with the threat of unemployment—not that the facility could support such a loss. Her father was one of the founders and current supporters of the very building in which she ate and lived adjacent to. If she left, so did a quarter of the donations. And not just powerful in that sense, no, no…Yoruichi was a powerful woman period. She subdued the large Oomaeda, wrestled with Kyouraku and Kisuke and won, standing victoriously on top of both laughing loudly, removed all from Halibel's vision that she wanted to hurt, helped her... Halibel could trust her, she realized two years previously, subconsciously giving the boisterous woman the right to end her with a _chan_, instead of _kun_, or _san_. She was like Nel in a way. Always seeming to know what it was she doubted or needed reassurance on… or hated, detested, and needed destroyed or injured, or removed from sight. _But Nel…no…Nel wants to leave this world…she wants to be accepted into the arms of the thunder lord, and she wants to take my soul to do it…but Yoruichi…Yoruichi isn't one of us… so she doesn't want Kei…she…she doesn't want to leave…she wants to stay…and so…would have no need to injure me…_

She nodded and slowly took the cushion Kyouraku provided, politely mumbling her own 'Itadakimasu' before eating out of the rice bowl Yoruichi passed her.

Pulling down the neck of her shirt she looked at the rice dubiously, then back up to the man in light red (not pink, no, no, for what man wears pink?), who smiled at her and took another bite of rice to urge her on.

***

"Haah. Woah that was good. Gochisosama…" sighed a full Yoruichi, leaning back and patting her slightly bulging belly in contentment.

"Gochisosama deshita…"

"Gochisosama."

"…Gochisosama…"

No one spoke, the male eyes drawn to the humming female, the silent one's eyes drawn to a place they could not see.

"Well…I…" began the thin violet-haired woman, standing up with slight difficulty, "am going for a walk, if not, I'll have a giant tummy ache in the morning. Halibel-san, come with me. Pesche and Dondochakka are probably sleeping…or hiding from Renji judging from the commotion I heard, so we'll take a walk by ourselves."

Halibel nodded, patting down her garments for any crumbs or pieces of food left on her, and stood, following the woman newly promoted to 'most-trusted' into the garden the institution's more calm patients tended to.

***

"So you wanna tell me what happened?"

"No."

"Well," zipping up her bright, darkest-part-of-an-arum-lily jacket she pulled out a box, "tell me anyway."

***

"Hey."

"Huh?"

"…"

"What?"

"Yoruichi took my pocky…"

"Huh…sneaky devil, ain't she…"

"Hai…But never fear!" Tanned hands rummaged about in the pockets of his pink kimono and the deep pockets of his uniform, "Aha!" he expressed. From the last pocket at the bottom of his beach-sand cargos, he produced a red box, sticks covered in chocolate and nuts decorating its cover, "I _always_, come prepared."

"Hahaha. Pass the love, pass the love."

***

"Before you do, take one. We have to finish them before Kyouraku has something to pin me with." She passed the box to her bench-buddy.

"I-" sigh, "Fine." Withdrawing a biscuit stick, she handed back the box.

"You're supposed ta' _eat_ that you know." Yoruichi said slyly, seeing Halibel simply holding the sweet in her hand and looking at a group of children entering the building.

"Later."

"I'm still waiting you know."

"I told you I didn't want to talk about it."

_Crunch._ "Yeah, I know. But I want to know about it. So tell me, yeah?"

"…Don't know what you expect me to say…"

"Why'd you go nuts…oh sorry, _nuttier_, when you were in that girl's room?"

"She was faking it."

"Ah. And you saw through that, did you?"

"Don't mock me."

"Yeah, sorry, sorry. But the doctors _said_ that she was in a motor-active moment at the time."

"_Doctors_." Halibel spat, the fragile stick between her fingers snapping, gravity promising to cradle the separate pieces only to abandon them at the first obstacle.

"Well they were educated in this typ'a stuff, you know."

"…"

" 'Doesn't mean they know what they're doing.' Yeah?" Yoruichi prodded, nibbling on another stolen good.

_Damn her._

"Okay then. She was faking it. So what? Kiyone mentioned'ta Aizen that you had been going there for a few days before your episode. If you found out she was faking it…why didn't you go thrashin' about that first day?"

"…"

"Come on, Halibel."

"I had not been in the room before. She gave no outward expression before then aside from random movements cause by her '_Motor-activity'_ and '_complex phonic tics'_." She sneered, managing to pull it off with sound only, expressions as emotionless as she made them.

"Hm." _Crunch_. "Okay. So what about Nel-chan?"

The blond frowned, a motion not unnoticed by the youthful therapist, simply gratefully …unacknowledged.

"Nel-chan. I can't trust her anymore. She wants to be guaranteed entry into the Other World with _mine._"

"_Aah._" Yoruichi purred, putting another stick in Halibel's hands and eating another before closing the box and laying it between them. "So that's what's so important about this girl. Kei Fudo. She might have it, eh?"

"…Hai." She whispered, pulling down her neck once more and biting off the tip of the gift.

"Well then. That's interesting - although not unexpected. I thought that was the case…it was so much like the other people you classified as 'potential candidates'. At least the 'young grandmaster' himself is letting you see her at all. I tried to convince him, but that stubborn bastard…Prove me right, Halibel-chan…don't give in to your outbursts around her. That man hounding me about how he was right –gloating!- is _all_ I need."

"Why…"

"Hm?"

"Why don't you just kill him?"

At this Yoruichi gave a loud laugh, startling an inpatient couple a respectable distance away.

"Oh, Halibel-chan…" she giggled, wiping a tear, "I can't _kill_ him." Giggle, giggle, giggle, laugh. "Not only would that be the end of my life, but that'd be the end of my _entertainment_! And no one likes a bored Yoruichi. Kisu-chan is always so busy, and so, who else is there to bug and pester to their limit?"

Another small bite.

"Ah." She sighed, breathing in and out, dodging the remnants of amusement lingering in her mouth, "Well either way," she began, riding out the last of her laughs with a huge smile, "I talked to Aizen earlier while you were out, yeah, I witnessed that rather than heard about it, and tried to get him to agree to set an earlier date. Originally he was going to start the visits next Thursday…give you a bit of time to calm down…but, ol' reliable Yoruichi-chan here," she jabbed her thumbs into her chest, winking at the lily-leaf colored eyes focused on her, "got him to agree with your first two hour visit on Tuesday. It was the best he could come up to compromise with. And you should thank Stark-kun. If he didn't agree with me on letting you see her at _all_, Aizen probably wouldn't have let you."

"Hai…Arigatou, Yoruichi-chan."

"Do you want anymore?" She asked, shaking the red box a little. Halibel held up the nearly complete treat and raised an eyebrow. "Aha, fine." Opening it she took out one more, and, trapping that between her sharp, white teeth, Yoruichi shouted, "Oi!"

Gin, arm around the shoulder of his roommate/companion, stopped their strolling along the quiet path and looked up, lifting a hand reflexively to catch (and to protect his precious Izuru from) the item his attention-caller tossed. "Enjoy!" The gold-eyed woman replied, standing up and pulling Halibel to her feet as well. "Thanks!" Gin lazily replied.

She linked arms with her, the black woman's arm skinnier than hers but faster, lighter, preferring agility over brute force.

"Well…"

"…?"

"..Mm.." she contemplated… "Meh, let's walk around for a little bit. I still want to talk."

***

"Ah, Yoruichi-kun and Halibel-kun will be back pretty soon…Let's start packing up."

"Oh fine…" Kyouraku whined.

"Hey, hey, wanna go find Ise-kun?"

"Hai!"

"Haha, ok. Then help me clean up."

"Hmph." He pouted, "Fine."

***

"Yum, Izuru, say 'Ahh'."

"No…no, Gin, please…"

"Nope. You need some sugar in that tired little system ya' got. Now say 'Ahh' or I'll sit on ya' and make you eat it."

He looked at Gin incredulously…he couldn't be serious…could he? _I would choke!_ Izuru thought with a squeak.

"Too late." He bit off half of the melting chocolate covered stick, sliding the other half along with it into his mouth before tripping Izuru, (biting it again into halves), and swinging a leg over his struggling body, (biting it again and again until they could be swallowed easily) leaning forward (_Oh __**noo**_, Izuru thought once more, _not in a place this public! Bad! Bad, Gin!)_ to press his thin lips against the blonde's, pushing the sweets into his reluctant mouth and slapping a cold hand over it to make sure the original threat was carried out. His captive's weak, warm fingers tried to pry away the larger hand, but alas, the attempt was futile. "There." Gin smiled happily, "Better?"

"G-Gin!, Y-You jerk!"

"Hai, hai, if you only listened to me in the first place…none o' this woulda happened."

***

"So what's this 'Other World' like?"

"…

"Dunnoe…" Halibel answered, already feeling the prickle of self-cornerment stabbing the back of her neck.

"Hm. Then how do you know it exists?"

"It's something all fallen dragons know. It's how we…how we know that we're missing souls…"

"Don't you have guides? You mentioned once a long time ago, that guides were sent down along with the dragon."

"Hai…"

"…"

"…"

"Well? Tell me about that…"

Sigh.

"When I was sent down…the guide took the form of my guardian. From there I was told of what I needed to do in order to get to the Other World when my time was over."

"I read a file Tousen had in his office…About a cup of gasoline…?"

"I realize now that it was stupid, and only would have caused harm to this form. But at the time, I was instructed to by my guide, who has now suffered greatly and will never be allowed back into the Other World, to do so, and it would raw up one's body, marking it for all to see, to behold its magnificence, to fear it, because it would be prudent and instinctual to fear something so natural, and to be identified by one's soul carrier by it."

***

"Fudo-san!" Short brown hair whipped around, stinging an equally brown eye as she crouched, waiting for her attacker to appear. Not an attacker. Isane. The nice nurse lady. "Fudo-san…" she repeated, panting with slight exhaustion from her run." "Fudo-san, what are you doing out of your room! It's … haah… it's past curfew!"

"I…I couldn't sleep…and I heard that someone wanted to see me…and…I was really excited…I'm sorry…"

"No…no…haah… don't be… who was it… this…you were on your way to see her now?"

"Hai…but… but I didn't check to see what room she'd be in…so…I'm kind of…not where I want to be…"

"What was the person's name?"

"Halibel Halibel."

"Ah…Well…I don't think," deep inhale, quick exhale, "that Aizen-san wouldn't like that very much. As eager as Halibel-san is too see you…there've been a few…complications…in her behavior right now. But he's agreed to let Halibel-san have an experimental visit with you on Tuesday…do you think you can wait until then?"

"H-Hai…What room is she in?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that…Come now…Let's go back to your room. You must be happy to be out of that hospital room…"

"I…"

"Hm?"

"I liked the wallpaper…"

"Ah. Shall I bring you some flowers tomorrow then? Or maybe we can go to the garden? And you can pick out your own flowers?"

"That sounds nice…can we go right now?"

"No, I'm sorry…It's passed curfew…we'll go first thing in the morning, yes?"

"Okay."

***

"Ah. I see." Pausing, the long haired woman yawned, politely and childishly covering her enlarged mouth with the back of her hand, "Oh, _geez_, it's getting late… let's head back…"

"Hai."

"Well anyway…while we still have time left…You really want a cat?"

"…"

"Haha, it's okay if you do, you know. I have three at home, love 'em all to death."

"Hai."

"You never struck me as a cat person. Why?"

"Cats…are noble creatures…"

"I suppose this has something to do with your…alternate race?"

"Hai."

"And that would be?"

"Dragons are the nobl_est_ of natural creatures."

Yoruichi laughed tiredly, "Of course."

Coming to the wooden door, they stopped, the multi-cat owner fishing out a key from her pocket before Halibel could reach for hers. Shyly she poked her head through, preparing to smile impishly at Kyouraku if faced with an 'I know you stole my pocky' look. Seeing no one she turned on the lights, her back sensing tense apprehension from the tall woman behind her. "No one." She called over her shoulder as she stepped in.

"All righty then. I'll see you tomorrow, I'll be here first thing in the morning with your breakfast, _my_ recommendations that you stay completely locked up in here with me until Tuesday comes, and … that's it I suppose. Oyasumi."

"Oyasuminasai…"

Yoruichi smiled and left, locking the door behind her and slapping it in the familiar habit she has whenever she would leave Halibel's room.

_Tuesday…eh? _Halibel thought as she dressed for bed, _Can't wait…_

***

_Tuesday, hm?_ "Good night, Fudo-san." Isane, the nice nurse lady said as she walked out of the girl's room, locking the door behind her. _I wonder what she looks like._

_***_

"_Nanao-chan!!"_ He whined again, "_Nanao-chan_….Stark-kun ate all my pocky…."

"Neither of you need any more sugar. Finish your movie and go to bed."

"But _Nanao-chan_! Come watch it with us!" The bespectacled woman sighed, "Fine, I'll be there in a minute."

"Yes!" he hissed in victory, turning to skip back to the couch, kimono flapping around him like a pink dress.

"_Staaark-kuun_! She said yes!"

"I told you; the pocky is god."

_Oh I can't wait for Tuesday… _she thought, slowing deliberately to prolong the immature suffering of her superiors upon her; _At home…away from __**these**__ idiots, my first day off in God knows how long…_

"Hurry up, _Nanao-chan_! You'll miss the introduction!"

"Hai, hai…"

***

He nuzzled the sleeping boy's stomach, playing with the light hairs he found there, but never going low enough to sully his modesty. He kissed the skin there, soft, white flesh; purity. _His_ purity. Wrapping his arms around it he secures himself, comfortable knowing that no physical force will take his purity away from him, and sleeps lightly, keeping guard over his treasure.

***

"Nng."

Snore.

"Ahh."

Snore.

"Errrr."

Snore.

"Gng."

Pause…!!!...Snore.

"Nnn."

Snore.

"Grr."

Snore.

"DAMMIT, DONDOCHKKA! SHUT UP!"

***

_Why would she think I wanted it…It's hers….Doesn't…Doesn't she know we can't get into the Other World without our __**own**__ souls? ...Tuesday…I'll talk to her again on Tuesday…after she's talked to Kei…_


	6. Love lost Frankie in a sea of disbelief

"Isane-kun?"

"Hai?"

"…I don't want to have to wait until Tuesday…"

"Hai, hai. It's only two more days. And besides, these are Aizen-san's orders, Fudo-kun. I can't take you to see her yet."

"Do you think she'll prefer lilies? Or orchids… or maybe roses…or plain sunflowers. What color is her hair?"

"Eh…oh, Kiyoshi-san… she has blond hair…"

Sitting back the young girl relaxed, pulling musingly at the flowers around her, caressing them, stroking their petals, thinking of more to ask the helpful nurse. "What does she look like?"

Isane laughed lightly, patting Kei's teddy-tummy-brown hair as she set herself near her newly assigned charge. "Excited, aren't we?"

"Hai…"

"Well she's … she… hm."

Patiently she waited, flipping onto her stomach now to dig out a blade of grass – root and all.

"She's quite lovely…but usually has something covering most of her face…a turtleneck or hospital mask…"

"Is she tall?"

"Quite."

"How tall?"

"A little shorter than Stark-san."

"Not very exact, are you…"

"Haha, no, I'm afraid I'm not."

"Hm…is she nice?"

"She's never said much to me personally, but I believe so. She's never caused any trouble she could stop, and she usually always does what she's told…she…Kiyone, my sister here, has _never_ complained about her, and she _always_ finds something to complain about."

"So is she not your sister anywhere else then?"

"Hm?"

"You said…'Kiyone, my sister here,' is she not your sister anywhere else?"

"Ah." Gentle giggle, complementing perceptiveness, "I meant to say Kiyone, that's her name, that also works here…and who complains endlessly…has never—"

"Why—" Kei paused, eyebrows creased, signaling the mental struggle between curiosity and courtesy, "Why's she _here_… Why is Kiyoshi-san _here_ if she's been no issue?"

"I'm afraid that's for her to tell you if she wants to… or Stark-san or Aizen-san if they feel the need."

The bark colored eyes flashed, face scrunching up in an immature grimace as she stuck out her tongue and gave her company a daisy, "I don't like Aizen."

"Oh?" she said, accepting the flower with a concealed surprise at the lack of suffix to the owner's name, "Why not?"

"He reminds me of Papa."

"That's…bad?"

"I never liked Papa. I never liked Papa."

"Ah."

"Tell me more about Kiyoshi-san, please…"

Bubbly laughs and "Well, what else would you like to know?" answer.

"Well…What are her interests?…Does she have any f-friends, what color are her eyes… uhm… what's her favorite flower? Color? Book? Music? Person? Word? Name? Material? Smell? Food?—anything, please."

"I see," began the cloud haired woman, "well," looking down, she spotted a cluster of rich purple African-violets, and, giving no thought to the motion, pulled it away from the mother plant, offering it to the teen girl before her, "I don't know too much about her. In truth, I doubt anyone does. She's a quiet person. So I guess that answers one of your questions. The only person I've seen her around with the most, aside from the therapists—and even then it's usually Yoruichi-san, or Stark-san, or Kyouraku-san—is Nel-chan – you've seen her already yes?—but I … I don't think they're friends anymore… they had a.. an argument a few days ago…Did you know that while you were motor active, that entire last week, Kiyoshi-san went to see you?"

She blushed, smiling a small little thing to express her gratitude and, stretching out a gloved hand, she took the colorful flowers., "Well…I hope she'll like me…And I hope she likes orchids…they're my favorite anyway…so I think I'll take them with me when I go see her Tuesday, I'll ask her if she likes them, and if she does, she can have them, if not…Well… I'll keep them…" Fluidly, she removed her back pack and placed the flowers into it.

"Ne, Fudo-kun…"

"Hai?"

"Do you want to bake her some cookies?"

"What if she doesn't like cookies though?"

"Well then, we can give them all to Yoruichi-san. And Gin-kun and Izuru-kun…and maybe take some to Kyouraku-san and Stark-kun."

A small, doubtful little smile crawled over Kei's lips, pulling up one corner and pinning it in place with pressured knives, "Sure…"

***

"Oi. Yoruichi."

Sucking on a chocolate covered banana, the lazy worker pulled back her head, looking at the Halibel seated on the floor against the dresser from her spot upon the blonde's bed, "Hai?"

"How old is she?"

"Maa… fifteen I suppose. Why?"

Halibel sipped her tea, ignoring her room-guest.

"How old are you, Halibel-chan?"

"…"

"Hmph. Fine." There was unawkard silence for a while, the only sounds consisting of the pouring of tea, its consumption, and the soft sound of wooden stick VS trashcan as the gluttonous Yoruichi flinged her used sticks into the container.

"Do you like sweets, Halibel-chan?"

Shrug. "This body consumes them without complaint."

"Ah."

"…"

"…Do you find them…enjoyable?"

Halibel sighed…the sooner she gave an answer, the sooner her therapist would shut up. "Sure."

"Do you prefer sweet over bitter?"

"Sure."

"Hm…"

"You're rather annoying."

"Yep. You said you would like a cat. Why not a dog?"

"Dogs are equally approvable, even if they are not for the same reasons."

"For what reasons are dogs approvable?"

"Loyalty."

"Hm. Interesting. Have you ever had a pet before?"

"Nineteen."

"Eh?"

"This body is nineteen."

"Ah."

"…"

"Well have you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Silence. More silence. More.

"Well aren't you _fun_." The black woman sighed, stretching and rolling onto her stomach to grab the phone. Punching in a few digits she shifted hands and pressed the uniform tan piece of plastic to an unpierced ear.

There was a pause, in which the house's directory passed her through to the kitchen line.

"Isane-kun?-- What are you doing in the kitchen?—Ah.—_Ah_. Well then…I think I may take a visit down there.—Huh…No one's gonna reprimand me for gettin' a bite to eat from the kitchen. Whoever happens to tag along… tags along.—'kay. We'll be down there in a little while.—Hai?—Hai. She does…

"…Oi, Halibel-chan…"

She cracked open an eye, leaving her head resting tiredly against the drawers, and glared her acknowledgement.

"What kind of cookies do you like?"

Shrug.

"She said it doesn't matter.

"You'll eat any, yes?"

Nod.

"Mhm. – Hai.—Hai, bai-bai.

"Halibel-chan?"

"Hm?…"

"Accompany me to the kitchen."

***

"So which ones shall we make, Fudo-kun? Our own fortune cookies? Or maybe green tea cookies? Or sugar cookies…yes I'm sure those would be easier to make…" Isane mused, flipping through one of the kitchen's recipe books.

"It's stupid to make our own fortune cookies… 'cause we aren't fortune tellers. So we can't tell what's gonna happen…it's already all planned out for us. 'inevitability' and crap… green tea cookies aren't sweet enough. I want something Halibel-san _likes_. But what if she doesn't like sweets…but what if she does… but what if she's one of those odd people who like the more bitter cookies….Maa! Isane-kun!"

"Hai, hai. We'll just make some sugar cookies, yes? They're easy to make –we can cut out shapes!—and they're both sweet and a little bit bitter. Just in case Kiyoshi-san doesn't like sweet things, or just in case she doesn't like bitter. Good?"

"Aa."

"Ok. I'll get the cookie cutters and the pans, and you get the roll of dough that's in the refrigerator."

"Hai."

***

"Go by yourself."

"Nu-uh, Halibel-chan~! It's a rule in our handy-dandy guidance handbook that Aizen assigned everyone here that all patients must be accompanied by a mentor, with the exception of the hospitalized and immobilized. You are neither, and where I go, you must go."

"…"

"…"

"…Then we aren't going. You're planning something."

"Halibel-chan! I'm wasting away here! I must _eat_! You wouldn't want me to starve to death, would you?! _That _is my _plan_. Get my ass down there and _consume_."

"…but you just ate…"

"Appetizers, dear child, merely appetizers. Not enough to keep me satisfied. We'll walk around the garden out back for a while before we go? Come on, please?!"

***

"Now we sprinkle a little flour over the counter… and cut off one inch from the role…"

From behind the white haired youth, Kei watched as she mumbled to herself and sliced the chilled dough into the desired width.

"What shape do you think she'll like?" Kei whispered, looking down now at two metal designs that made it to the last round of approvable sizes.

"Hm. Out of stars and bears…Why not make both?"

"Okay."

_Riing…Riing…Riing… Rii—_

"Hai?"

"_Call from: Inpatient:" _ here the dull computerized voice paused, Ise Nanao's smart voice sounding from a recording, "Kiyoshi, Halibel's _room."_

"Put it through please."

"_Hai._"

"Hai?"

"_Isane-kun?"_

"Hai?"

"_What are you doing in the kitchen?"_

"Making cookies—"

"_Ah."_

"with Fudo-kun."

"_**Ah.**__ Well then…I think I may take a visit down there."_

"Aren't you with Kiyoshi-san, though?" She looked at her young fellow female, noting how she looked up fearfully but with all the proverbial attentiveness of a bored housecat that's just spotted a mouse. "You can't leave her alone…and Aizen-san will reprimand you for coming down here when you've been -- "

" _Huh…No one's gonna reprimand me for gettin' a bite to eat from the kitchen. Whoever happens to tag along… tags along_."

"Yoruichi-kun…I'd rather you not risk such a thing…but do as you wish. Fudo-kun is extremely excited about meeting her."

'_kay. We'll be down there in a little while."_

"Ask her if Kiyoshi-san likes cookies!" Kei whispered harshly, standing now before the white haired helper and looking up at her with sweetness in her eyes only the truly pure could muster.

"Yoruichi-san!"

"_Hai?"_

"Do you know if Kiyoshi-san likes sweets?"

"_Hai. She does…"_

"Do you know what kind?"

"_What kind of cookies do you like?—She said it doesn't matter."_

"She said it doesn't matter." Isane told the nervous child. "So you'll still be coming down here then?"

"_Mhm."_

"Okay then. See you soon?"

"_Hai"_

"Bai-bai."

"_Hai. Bai-bai."_

"Well? Well?!" Kei pounced, Isane not yet having even placed the phone on its hook properly. "She said any kind is fine. She'll eat it."

"Aahh!" She sighed, depressingly she leaned against the counter. Elbows supporting her as she leant backwards above the sink. "_Isaaane-kun. Eating_ and _liking_ aren't the same things. I need to know what she _likes_."

"Would you like for me to call her back and ask?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Flatten those sliced pieces and start cutting out shapes just in case. I'll call back right now, okay?"

"Okay."

***

"Fine."

"Awesome."

***

"You anxious?"

"I don't know."

"Eh? How can you not know? All well… You excited?"

"I don't know."

"Are you relieved?"

"Why would I be?"

"Are you upset?"

"No."

"Are you impatient at all?"

"…I can't tell."

"Well," Yoruichi sighed, hand pulling at her hair in restrained frustration. Truth be told, she was frightened a bit herself.

Halibel had been with them for twelve years, give or take, and in those long twelve years, she made no move to help herself, insisting with a convincing persistence that she was what she claimed to be. There was no positive change in her demeanor, false accusations against what were once her fellow inpatients led to a rather…violent… reaction from her, each case resulting in the relocation of the victimized and a new type of medication. Yoruichi hoped, hoped to whatever god there was, be it a Christian one or Buddha or this thunder lord Halibel so frequently spoke of, she hoped, that her patient and friend would come through and realize that her mind was wrong, or, at the very least, not injure this Fudo child.

"Are you scared?"

There was no answer; stillness creeping into her body and freezing her joints, locking them into place and forcing that bosomous blonde to think and wonder at her own emotions. "I might be."

"Why?"

Again, there was no immediate answer, the stiffening cold still securely holding hostage her bones, caging her thoughts, pressuring, pressuring her mind to decide now or risk being wrong. Think!

"I will not be wrong."

"Maa…I wonder how Kei-kun feels about this. Anxious maybe. Isane-chan said that she was excited about meeting you. Sh'said a while before that this Fudo kid was so happy about it 'cause no one ever wanted to see her so badly."

"Hn."

" Don'tcha think that _she's_ scared, Halibel-chan?"

Slowly her head rotated, thick yellow eyebrows trying their hardest to reach each other as the bond they struggled to maintain screamed worry, or better yet, confusion. She didn't think about that. Herself the main focus, she didn't care what happened to the kid, she just wanted her soul. She didn't think of what would happen if she had to force it out of her, if she had to do what Nel said she couldn't, _But then again_, she thought spitefully, _Nel-chan lied. She could have lied to me then too, what if she did get her soul, but lost it by some other means. Caring about her soul's carrier, maybe. Falling into that warned urge to bring a human into our world. No, I will not be so stupid._ She didn't think of what would happen no, but nor did she care. _They're all trying to kill me anyway. I just want what I must have._ She didn't think of what would happen if she had to stab it out of her, if she had to open that body to reach in and pull herself out, if she had to kill Kei Fudo. She didn't think, and she didn't care.

"It doesn't matter if she is."

"That's a bit mean, no?"

"I don't care."

Resolutely she tightened her crossed arms, casting off the lack of heat like mud from God's foot, and moved onward toward the kitchen with a "Hurry up, Yoruichi. Get your stuff."

She pressed her lips against each other, not enjoying Halibel's reaction at all. Halibel was frightened, even if she herself didn't know it.

Yoruichi had known the girl long enough to break the code of those emotionless reactions, to know that Halibel's fear always proceeded a negative event, to see that Halibel was just as anxious as she predicted she would be, just as relieved, just as upset, impatient, fretful, and worrying as she was expected. _It was a good thing, _she supposed, running up to walk side-by-side with Halibel, _I didn't tell her Kei-kun would be in there._

***

"Yes? Sugar cookies are fine? Really?!" Isane tried her best to sound convincing, although, if even only to her own ears, she sounded fake and overly dramatic. "Oh thank you so much, Yoruichi-kun. It will save in preparation time. Hai. Hai. Bai-bai." She smiled, an unreal and falsely assuring thing, in the direction of the girl, hanging up the phone as she rolled up her sleeves to help. "She said sugar cookies are a wonderful choice." Kei looked doubtful, knowing full well what the nurse did, disappointed of course, but deciding to suppress her disdain at the subject out of respect for the aiding woman.

***

"You're awfully quiet, Fudo-kun. What's wrong?" she asked after they cut and set all the cookies onto a tray, noting how the fake call marked the beginning of her silence.

Shaking her head she rinsed her hands of flour and dough, watching the simple ring of yarn on her right ringer through the distorted view the water provided. "Just thinking."

"Gah." Isane whispered, having opened the oven after long minutes of preheating, waving the heat away and scrunching up her face so she could set one tray, two trays, of teddy-star combos into the giant box of fire. "So sorry," she continued, "If I may ask, what about?"

Kei grabbed the dishtowel, patting her hands with a frown. "I don't know how – what?!" Quickly she looked down at her legs, dropping the blue-flowered cloth into the sink. "Oh!" she exclaimed with a small smile, -- the trait of her ethnicity emphasizing the moon-formation of her eyes – and bent down, sitting on her bottom and leaning against the cupboards. "What a pretty kitty. Hello Frankie-chan." She cooed, bringing her arms up to her chest as if holding a cat. A small shuffle and the appearance of white slippers around the island counter signaled the presence of her curious caretaker. "Fudo…kun…"

"Isn't she cute?" she asked, holding up the nonexistent cat for the older woman to see. "I…uh-I…" she stuttered, not knowing what to say to this. "Yes. Er…it's a very cute cat, but why don't you let it go, hm? I'm sure its mama wants it back now."

"Iie, Isane-kun. _She_ came to _me. _She wants to stay with me; why else would she have come? Her mama must not love her very much."

"Okay then. But shouldn't you let her go then? This is the kitchen after all. I can't imagine how she got in," _Oh I __**hope**__ I'm not making this any worse._ "but yes, you should let her go. What if she _was_ trying to find her mama, but got lost on the way and accidentally found you? Maybe she wants to go home, yes? Come on now, let her go and stand up?"

"No!"

Isane jumped at the sudden outburst. Shutting her eyes, Kei held the invisible creature tighter to her chest, "No! She…She _needs_ me. Why else would she have come… why else would she have come!?"

The white-uniformed person started, uncertain of how to do what she was about to do, but knowing she must, "Fudo-kun, look at me, look at me, Fudo-kun. I won't ask what you are thinking about anymore, yes?" _If this is her combination of level one and two defenses , I must have done something she didn't like very much… _"No! Y-you're going to take her away from me!"

"No, Fudo-kun, I can't, because she isn't there. She isn't real, Fudo-kun. It's just me and you in the kitchen. We just finished cutting the cookies and I just put them in the oven," _Think, Isane, think! What did you go through all those boring sessions for if not to prepare you in dealing with your charges!?_

"You're going to kill her aren't you?! B-because we can't have pets here! No! Please! I'll take her outside! Look! I'll go right now!" Quickly she stood, running out of the French doors into the garden that acted as the crossroads for every single-letter cardinal direction and a path to the southeast. "Fudo-kun! Wait!"

"No! I promise! I'll let her go right here!"

Stopping at the southeastern path, she kneeled, hunched over so far that he head rested against the soft ground. Swiftly she sat up, throwing her arms out after she gave the creature one last good-bye hug, tossing it away from her. "What are you doing!?" she cried, giving the impression and warning to those who could not see it that the cat was returning, sitting right in front of her with condemning eyes and a swishing tail. "What are you doing?! I told you to get away from here! They're going to hurt you!" She continued, the unseeable creature not moving, "Go away! They're going to hurt you! Don't you understand me?! They're going to HURT you!"

Swiftly she kicked off, dropping to her knees and squeezing air, teeth grinding together in a twisted form of angry protection. "They're going to hurt you, dammit. I tried to tell you," she hissed, hands straining now to suffocate the earth they dug into, lips pursed too thin, one would wonder where the pale skin transformed into the vermilion border, emphasizing the force behind her attempts to strangle the blank cat. "I tried to tell you, but you didn't listen," she continued, hands tightening, spit sucked back into her mouth, tightening, tightening, rambling; "I tried to tell you, I tried to tell you, they're going to hurt you, they're going to hurt you, but you didn't listen. So out of my love for you, I will end it. I'll do it so that way you don't have to die by their hands, so you can rest in peace knowing I did it out of _love_ for you." At this she laughed, quickly inhaling to exhale a sob, a sad, happy, crying taking place in the girl at the murder of the cat. "I'll always love you, I'll always love you, I'll always love you," she mumbled, repeating it over, and over, and over, and over again, Isane behind her doing nothing to stop the incident not occurring, she simply…watched; waiting for it to be over, expecting something she would be unprepared for.

The sobbing suddenly stopped. Kei froze, looking down at her hands as if she didn't recognize them, and then she gasped, backing quite suddenly and falling onto her back. Paranoidly, she looked around, eyes wide and teary, mouth opened slightly in her downward 'n' of a frown, silent, until she muttered something when her eyes locked with those of a shocked Isane. "Why…" she made out. Moving closer to the quietly crying child she bent down politely asking for her to repeat. "Why didn't you stop me…Frankie-chan is dead now…You let me kill her! How could you!? You let me kill it! She needed me! She needed me! She needed me!" she shouted, over and over until after the seventh call, after the period of two minutes in which all of this happened…she stopped. Surprising the relatively new worker with her spontaneous and involuntary behavior, she stood. Wiping the tears away with the only part of her hands not soiled – the backs – and brushed herself off. Patting her rear a final time, she sniffed, running a hand under her nose to assure herself she was presentable, and walked calmly back towards the kitchen with a smile to the aid and a beckoning motion for her to follow.

***

"Maa. Hmph. Someone ate all the chocolate covered bananas."

Halibel shook her head, her eyes having been closed, her senses alert and vibrating, tasting the air for potential homo-sapien-sapien danger as she stood with arms never having left their walking position against the doorframe providing entry into the dining room.

"Grr." Sounded Yoruichi, "I'm freaking _hungry_."

"…sure you're okay?" What a familiar voice…

"Yes, Isane-kun. I'm fine. I'm sorry." Halibel's eyes snapped open, closing halfway again cautiously as she looked around for the sound, settling on the see-through double doors.

"_Oho…_" Yoruichi cooed, backing up against the refrigerator as the two females walked into the kitchen, neither noticing the other pair until they were at the center island-counter. Isane was the first to stop, not having been talking, but holding Kei's attention, she froze, looking first as the seemingly cool and calm Kiyoshi Halibel, then back to Yoruichi with a flushed face. "I'll be sacked, you know…" she huskily whispered in the general direction of the dark violent haired woman. "No you won't. You're under Unohana-san's protection, yeah?" she retaliated, popping out the chunk of ice she was chewing on, "And if you aren't, well then, you're under mine."

"I just don't think this is a good idea, Yoruichi-kun…She's just had an episode…and Aizen-san doesn't want them to be together this soon…"

The rest of their conversation went by unnoticed by the other pair, recognition, realization, and regression of manners all flew to the youngest, and the sudden urge to confirm overtook her…

She walked around the island, walked on water to get to the lifeboat that was the person standing between the doorway to a heavenly feast and burning starvation, and when she came to that boat, forgetting all manners and propriety, she jumped in, looking at her without restraint, taking in every detail with the knowledge that even if this was a dream, she could remember that the captain came to save her, her, the solitary child on the solitary, isolated island, and that she would forever be in debt to her.

And then she blinked. And she was back at the start of the island. _A dream_. She concluded. _It was a dream. If it wasn't, then I would have been able to touch her. But it was a dream. And there is no one that has come to save me._

Turning, she walked back out the doors and into the garden, walking back to the dead cat laying on its back, walking back to further mutilate the beast, for it had caused her to have the dream. It had caused her to have the dream she had once before, a feeling of absolute security and safety, happiness at being found and rescued…and then having it pulled out from under you like that red, red rug; yes. It was Frankie's fault. Even in death, Frankie must suffer. _I won't love you anymore, Frankie. If that is the only thing I have to punish you with, then so be it; I renounce my love for you, Frankie._

***

_I wanted to lean into that touch, a few more centimeters, just a few more. Was I wrong? All the others shied away, fearing the separation of their release with my approach. Maybe she didn't have me. Maybe she didn't, because she reacted so unnaturally. __**A dragon's approaching release is something to fear**__; but alas, she approached it with curiosity acting as her shield, immaturity and illness her sword, and has stabbed it—a smooth, clean, thrust through the heart. _

_How __**dare**__ she drain my strength, for that is what she's doing now! Hands hovering on either side of my hidden cheeks as if she knew that the markings were under the sweater—but ho! She does! Why else would she choose that spot specifically? Maybe she wants to shave it off, cut away the only physical remnants of my alternate race, yes, yes that's exactly what it is. She wants to bind me to her in this world. She … she wants me to be human with her. To go to hell with her so she won't be alone. I don't care! I don't care, I don't care! I can't be here, I have to leave! I have to get out of this world one way or the other! I have to take it from her! Give me my soul!_

And just like that, her purple-shirted back was mocking her, the girl, Kei, was walking back to the end of the counter, standing still after turning to face her again, looking back with a blank depth only describable as lost confusion and longing. And again the girl turned, heading straight back out of those tanned wooden doors, back to the place neither Yoruichi nor Halibel witnessed the nonexistent murder.

And just like the quick snapping of leathery wings, the girl's delusions hit her, the other's spontaneous combustion exploding into life…

And just like that, Halibel sprang, no conscious decision to do so…

And just like that…grabbed her wrist.

"Sea foam." She blurted.

***

Isane made her way to the spectators' rally point, hoping to whatever deity she took faith from that she would not be fired, that this event would float by unnoticed and safe. Without comment they watched, the kid of the gang shuffling in a reality away from the one then, moving her striped-sock clad feet toward the blond with no thoughts beyond the primitive and a hand outstretched imploringly. Her feet stopped, nearly equal to each other and parallel with the olive colored house shoes of the person whose cheeks her hands now hovered over. 'My captain…' she mouthed.

Her eyes shifted downward, following nothing but the pull of gravity and dismay, and her hands retreated, her form following lethargically, submerged in a half conscious walk of the dead to her previous post.

Surprised and unassuming, Yoruichi, although with much more dignity than the younger viewer, was shocked in a borderline negative manner when Halibel suddenly reached out, dashing in two long-legged strides, and grabbed onto Kei. Isane—shaking her head, slapping herself with uneven and beaded strands of unshort locks of white—was already preparing a way to defend herself verbally against what she was absolutely _sure_ to be her unemployment. What neither expected, however, was the unviolent reaction that was given.

Instead of pulling on that wrist to pin it behind a small back, she pulled it to pin the small back against her front. Instead of breaking that amazingly thin arm, she pressed both her own around the girl, bending down slightly to uncaringly give head-supporting duty to Kei's shoulder and grip her hands opposite shoulder. Instead of ripping out her stunned throat, she calmly turned her own face into it and sniffed, flowers and…flour. Instead of incapacitating the child any other way, she slowly let go – not without a gentle squeeze—and turned her around.

***

_She must be…__**protect her**__…for…__**needs me**__…for this to be … __**protect her, needs me. Needs me, needs me, needs me, needs me. Keep out. Protect. Protect. Us. Us. Us. Us. I will not stay here, she **__**cannot**__**. I will not leave her here. She will come with me. **__For the order to be issued without my will. Do you command me now, Kei? Have you given out the order for me to embrace you? For me to kneel as I am now before you? Have you given out the order? Bypassed all the walls of my will? Are you as scared as I of this world? Is that why you made me embrace you? Let it be known, Master, that I hate you. I absolutely fucking _hate_ you. But I need you…cannot seem to survive without it…and so…you will have to be tolerated. __**Protect. Need. Save. Need. Save. Help. Help. Save. Need. Rescue…**_

"Forgive my tardy, Fudo-sama."


End file.
